How to Advertise Your Events with Facebook

If you have a Facebook page for your business, sometimes it's hard to know what to post. However, one easy thing that you should definitely advertise through Facebook is your upcoming events.

Here's how you do it:

Note: We're writing this with the assumption that this is all done from a Facebook fan page, not a personal account.

As soon as you have a new event on your calendar, go to your Facebook business page and click on Events. Depending on what "version" of Facebook you have (they're always updating it), you will see it on the left or the top. Click on "Create an Event".



The next screen should look something like the one above. From here you can enter in the details for your event...day and time, location, address, descriptions, etc.

Invite Guests

Before you actually create the event you'll also want to invite specific guests. Click on "Select Guests" and click on your friends who you want to invite to the event. Don't worry - even people who you haven't invited can still see the event. This is a nice feature because you can see who's responded later on, plus it makes sure your fans are aware of the event.

After you have selected friends to invite, click on "Create Event". Your event is created and will now appear on the News Feed of your fans.

There are still a few details to take care of. Go back to the main page of your Facebook business page and click on the event.

Here you should see the details of the event you created - but you will also see where you can add even more information.

Link to Website

We recommend adding a link here that leads to the events page of your website. This is helpful for a few reasons - you can more accurately track who is interested, usually your website is a more effective marketing tool than Facebook, and also you may want people to register for the event or pay directly from your website.

After you add the link to your website there are a few other options...you can add pictures to the event, video, or just add more information.

Update your Fans...Fail

There is also an option to "Update fans of..." to send an update to your fans. Unfortunately as of the time of this writing, sending an "update" from a Facebook business page is largely ineffective. Your fans don't get an email or notification, and it doesn't appear on their News Feed. The only place it shows up is as an "Event" on the left side of their main page. Most people never click this so they are unaware they were "updated".

So how do your fans know about the event? There are 3 main ways:

1. When you created the event it appeared in their News Feed

2. If you invited them as a guest (they have to be your friend, not just fan) they will receive a notification

3. When the event gets a little closer you should post a reminder on your wall to have people check out your event. This will also appear in their News Feed.

Adding your upcoming events to Facebook only takes a couple minutes, yet can really be effective in helping share the word. Make sure to use this valuable tool and you'll begin to see more people showing up to your events!

Make your Web Content Look Amazing

In a past article on content writing we talked about what to write about. Now we're going to put that to the side and talk about how to style your web content. This is helpful for those of us who manage our own websites; it's also helpful if you have someone do it for you because now you can know what to look for.

Text on a page is boring right? Answer - it doesn't have to be. Here are a few ideas on how to make your content look interesting.

1. Use white space

White space is simply the extra padding in between the words and whatever the words are next to. So for example, in this article the words are on a white background, and next to it is a gray background. The gap in between where the words stop and the gray background begins is the white space.

White space makes your website look less cluttered. It also makes it much easier to read. Help out your readers by making sure that you have some extra white space around your text.

2. Make sure the font size is readable

A good rule of thumb is that it's better to be on the safe side when it comes to font size. A lot of people (and I'm one of them) prefer the look of a smaller font. But it's best to make sure that everyone can read your text very easily.

3. Use the correct background

While we're on the subject of readability, let's talk about colors. We've mentioned this before in 8 Website Blunders to Avoid, but it's very important that your text be a very dark color on a very light background. It doesn't have to be black on white, (although that is very common) and there's nothing wrong with dark gray or dark blue, but make sure there's a very stark contrast between the words and the background behind it.

One thing we didn't mention in the previous article is that it's also OK to reverse it and have a black background with white text. Sometimes this looks good on an "artsy" website for a photographer, rock band, etc. Just keep in mind that it is harder to read white text on a black background so make sure you compensate for it with extra white space, font size, and...

5. Line spacing

Line spacing is the gap between subsequent lines in a paragraph. Good line spacing will allow readers to easily scan your paragraphs without having to squint.

6. Use some photos

Conveniently, we just wrote an article on how to use pictures in your web content. The second item in that list is to "Use Scattered Images". If you didn't read the article what we mean is this - when you have a lot of text, make it look more interesting by putting a relevant picture next to the text to break it up. It will just make everything look much more interesting and professional.

7. Include some hyperlinks in your content

Hyperlinks serve a dual purpose in this context. First and most importantly, they direct your users to other interesting content that they may way to check out. But secondly, the links look nice.

Look at the link above. The added color just makes that paragraph look a little bit more interesting. Granted, the link isn't very descriptive so some people won't click it, but that's OK in some cases because maybe you're just adding some color to the paragraph.

Writing for the web is a difficult task for anyone. Remember that it's harder to read text on a computer screen than on paper. Using these suggestions will help grab the readers attention and help you reach your online goals.

The 4 best ways to use photos on your website

Most websites, if not all, look much better with good pictures. But what is the best way to present those pictures? Believe it or not, you can make your website look unprofessional even with the best of pictures.

It's not just how good your photos are that matters, but also how you present them. For example, if your website is cluttered with photos then it won't be attractive. No one likes clutter.

Another way to make your site look unprofessional even with good photos is to not size them properly. If they're too small then they're unimpressive and won't get noticed. If they're too large than they're overwhelming. The right balance is necessary.

Here are the 4 best ways to incorporate pictures into your website:

1. A "thumbnail" photo gallery

Explanation: Take your photos, and make 2 copies of them. One copy is the full sized photo, the other copy is a small little "thumbnail" version. Set it up so that when the users clicks a thumbnail, the full size version pops up in an attractive format.

Example: Our portfolio page at www.freshlookwebdesign.com/portfolio

Benefits: You can post a lot of pictures without slowing down the page load speed because the large images aren't loaded until you click on them.

Downside: No huge downside here, but one thing is that the thumbnails on the page won't look as good as a full sized image would. In other words, there's no real aesthetic value until the images are actually clicked on.

2. Scattered images

Explanation: Instead of having only a lot of text on a web page, put some photos here and there to break it up and make it look more interesting. This style is similar to what you might find in a newspaper where you have a story with a photo off to the side with a caption.

Example: www.oldhouseauthority.com/about

Benefits: Scattering images makes an otherwise boring page look much more interesting. It also won't slow down the page load speed because typically you only have 2 or 3 images...and if you happen to have a couple more than they're far down on the page and the reader can view the top portion while the rest of the page loads in the background.

Downside: If you include too many pictures it looks very cluttered. You need to have a good text to picture ratio...make sure that there's still a lot more text than pictures. If you have too many pictures than you'll need to use a photo gallery like a...

3. Controllable Slideshow

Explanation: A controllable slideshow is a user controlled picture slideshow. The user is automatically shown the first picture, but is required to click "Next" to make the next picture appear. Another way to do it is have small thumbnails below the slideshow which can be clicked on.

Note: Sometimes these slideshows are set up so that when you click "Next" the entire web page has to reload. We don't like that kind. It takes too long to wait for the next photo to reload every time.

Example: www.oldhouseauthority.com/experts/chandelier/roeper.php

Benefits: With this type of slideshow you save a lot of space. You can put a dozen or more pictures in a box which conserves space for your text. And it of course gives the user control over what pictures they want to look at.

Downside: This type of photo gallery sometimes takes longer to load initially. That's because it's loading all the pictures at once to avoid having to reload the page every time you click "Next". So if you want to use a lot of photos (more than 20 or so) than your page will take a little longer to load.

4. Fading Slideshow

Explanation: The fading slideshow is one of the most popular ways to display pictures on the web. Basically it's a picture that fades in and out every few seconds into a different picture.

Example: www.chincoteaguechamber.com

Benefits: The fade effect is what makes this photo gallery look good. It's a great way to give users that "wow" factor when they first come to your home page.

Downside: Sometimes if the page is still loading, the first transition from one photo to another can be a little jerky. Once the whole page has loaded that won't be an issue. Also if you have too many photos rotating in the gallery it will eventually slow down the page load speed.

We hope these little examples will give you some great ideas for your website. Remember...it's not just the pictures which make a great website but also how you present them. Good luck!

Don't forget to let us know if you're interested in improving your website or just want some consulting help.